Treatment of fibre assemblies with fluids



g- 10, 1965 M. CHAIKlN ETAL 3,199,126

TREATMENT OF FIBRE ASSEMBLIES WITH FLUIDS Filed Sept. 28, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.l

B 71 .9%, M f,

Attorneys Aug. 10, 1965 M. CHAIKIN ETAL 3,199,126

TREATMENT OF FIBRE ASSEMBLIES WITH FLUIDS Filed Sept. 28, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 0 a Jr's 3,199,125 TREATMENT fil FKERE ASSEMhLES WE'KH FLUEDS Malcolm Chaildn, Maroubra, New outh Wales, and Alexantler dmnson, Greenwich, New fiouth Wales, Australia, assignors of one-half to Unisearch Limited, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia, a limited company of New outh Wales, Australia Filed Sept. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 226,932

Claims priority, application Australia, Oct. 18, 1%1,

7 Claims. (Cl. 8-156) The present invention relates to the treatment of fibre assemblies with fluids supplied in the form of a jet or jets where it is advantageous to have fluid-fibre contact throughout the assembly in a rapid manner and with a minimum of fibre movement. The invention discloses a method of preventing macroscopic fibre movement and at the same time allowing intimate fluid-fibre contact.

The invention consists in a method of treating a mass of loose fibres with a fluid wherein the fibres are formed into a layer and compressed and the treating fluid is applied to the layer by means of a jet or jets directed transversely thereto, the layer of fibres being compressed to an extent such that relative movement between individual fibres due to the action of the jet or jets or to the action of internal stresses is substantially prevented whilst allowing the fiuid to act freely on all fibres.

The present invention may be exemplified to great advantage in the scouring of raw greasy loose wool where it is required to remove from the mass and the individual fibres quantities of wool grease, suint (mainly sheep perspiration) and animal and vegetable and mineral matter, and at the same time to prevent fibre movement. Other applications of this invention are in the washing, dyeing, carbonising and neutralising of loose fibre and fibrous assemblies and fibre slivers and in any treatment of fibres with a jet of fluid in which it is desirable to minimise fibre movement. However, for illustrative and explanatory purposes, the scouring of raw greasy wool is discussed, as in this case, fibre movement is energised by an internal fibre source as well as by external mechanical forces.

in present day textile processing, this procedure is commonly known as raw (greasy) wool scouring and may be carried out using an aqueous scour solution of soap and soda or synthetic deergent which is caused to act on the loose wool. By loose wool is meant wool fibres whose general configuration is such that some are and some are not considered to be in a parallel position relative to each other. in this conventional system, loose wool is usually scoured by passing it through a suocesion of tanks (bowls) containing the scouring liquors, the last tanl'. being a rinsing bowl containing mains water only. The temperature of the liquors are such as to effect optimum scouring of the loose wool, and usually range from 100 to 160 F. In the bowls the loose wool is noved along by mechanical action and fluid friction forces and is mainly submerged in the liquors, except between bowls when it is elevated out and passed through squeeze rollers, and into the next bowl.

While this method is effective in securing the loose wool to remove the undesired matter from it to a degree sutlicient for the eificient subsequent processing of the secured wool, it has one great drawback which takes place during scouring, namely, the entanglement or intertwining or coiling of the loose wool fibres relative to each other, resulting in fibre breakage during subsequent processing.

The movement of wool fibres by writhing and/ or coiling is caused by internal stress changes. When the moisture content of wool changes, whether adsorption or desorption, there is a change in dimension in a radial direction (e.g. swelling due to adsorption) accompanied by stress changes and strain movements. The sum total of elemental strain movements results in a configurational change of the curved (crimped) wool fibre, the total movement appearing as a writhing action to which is added torsional strain movement (coiling) about the longitudinal wool fibre axis.

The next process after the scouring of raw greasy wool is carding, where the loose scoured Wool is disentangled in order to arrange the individual fibres in a sliver in substantially parallel relationship. During this carding operation, wool fibres break due to the method of disentanglement, and the extent of fibre breakage is a function of (proportional to) the degree of entanglement of the secured wool. In wool processing, the longer fibres are considerably more valuable than the shorter ones, most of the short ones being obtained by fibre break-age, and therefore it is highly desirable that during the scouring process of the loose wool, entanglement of the wool be kept to a minimum, this being one of the most important advantages of the present invention when applied to the scouring of wool.

In the application of the resent invention to the scouring of wool, loose wool is preferably conveyed at any desired speed in a layer in a compressed state between two porous conveyors along a given path which extends either entirely above, entirely below or partly above and partly below the surface of the scour liquor, which is preferably at a temperature of 60-165 E, and in this moving condition the compressed wool is subjected to scouring liquor jets directed transversely to the direction of movement at any chosen pressure and velocity in1- pinging on the compressed wool layer from above and/ or slow. The scour liquor jets which may be one or more in number in each bowl extend transversely across the conveyors. G-f fundamental importance is that, in

this invention, the loose wool is subjected to such a state of compression (which will usually involve the application to the loose wool of a pressure of from 20-150 lbs. per square foot depending on other parameters, such as wool density, jet velocity, quality and state of wool) that movement of the wool fibres relative to each other, is reduced to a practical minimum, so as to bring about the least amount of entanglement, intertwining or coiling. With the loose wool in a compressed condition during liquor jet impingement, the entanglement, intertwining or coiling of the wool fibres is kept to a minimum and thus the condition of the scoured loose wool is such that fibre breakage during carding and subsequent processing is also kept to a minimum. For convenience wool scoured according to the present invention will be referred to hereinafter as compression-jet scouredwool.

The present invention may be applied to any of the stages of a loose wool scouring system, such as de-suinting, detergent washing or rinsing, he apparatus used being substantially as outlined above.

T he present invention is to be clearly distinguished from that disclosed in Australian patent specification No. 147,- 792, where the method of wool Washing as described would result in greater entanglement, and therefore a much inferior quality of scoured wool, than is obtained with a conventional multi-bowl aqueous scour. From extensive experiments carried out at the textile processing laboratories of the University of New South Wales, Commonwealth of Australia, it has been established that aqueous solution jetting on wool (under liquid) without compression results in an extremely entangled fibre mass, as the jet force greatly assists entanglement by moving fibres.

The apparatus as described and shown in the drawing of Australian patent specification No. 147,792 makes no reference to compression of the wool fibres at any stage of the process, and furthermore, there are two portions of the wools under-liquid path where the fibres are con1- pletely free and may even float away from the conveyor belt which is supposed to transport them. Experimental results indicate that this method and apparatus would be most conducive to producing an entangled wool product if it were to scour at a commercial rate and for commercial cleanliness. The result would be severe fibre breakage during carding and therefore heavy financial loss. A similar disclosure is also contained in British Patents 683,137 and 573,042 and in Canadian Patent 515,153.

For an understanding of the principles of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of a typical embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

PEG. 1 is a part sectional elevation, of a somewhat schematic nature, illustrating one form of apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view illustrating the mesh character of a conveyor belt shown schematically in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a practical embodiment of the rotating mesh surface drum shown schematically in FIG. 1.

The apparatus to be described may be used singly or with other scouring bowls, de-suinting bowls, rinsing bowls, or otherwise, the whole considered to be a scouring train, which accomplishes the task of removing wool grease, suint, animal, vegetable and mineral matter from around the wool fibres as presented in the form of raw greasy wool.

A tank 1 contains liquor, up to liquid level 2, and may be connected hydraulically to another tank (not shown) used as a storage vessel for the liquor. A drum 3 attached to shafts suitably located in bearings and driven by mechanical or electrical power has on its periphery a wire mesh, which in turn may be covered by other meshes.

An endless conveyor belt 4, which may consist of a flexible netting or mesh, is made to move for part of its path around a portion of the periphery of the hollow drum 3 and may be guided and/ or driven by rollers 19, 11, or the pivoting roller 8. This pivoting roller 8 produces a tension in conveyor belt 4 by means of the pivoted lever 9 and Weights 21, maintaining a predetermined tension by taking up any stretch of the conveyor belt. The tensioned conveyor belt 4 exerts an inward radial com pressive force all along the periphery of the drum to which it is adjacent, so that when wool is held between conveyor belt 4- and drum 3, the layer of wool then formed is compressed and compression exists so long as there is tension in the belt, and the belt and drum are adjacent to each other over an arc. to move in an endless manner at the same linear velocity as the drum periphery, so that the wool which is held and compressed between the conveyor belt a and drum 3 is not subjected to any shear tendencies when compressively held. The wool is fed in a uniform manner to the conveyor belt 4 near rollers 10, and is first compressed above the liquor level 2 between the drum 3 and rollers 10 and remain compressed whilst submerged, cmpression being released above the liquor level when the conveyor belt changes direction near roller 11.

On the inside of the hollow drum 3 is an upper jet manifold 19 containing several upper jets 5. This upper jetting system receives liquor under pressure from the jetting pump 7 and jets the liquor through the upper jet slots in a downward direction on to the compressed wool layer which is held between drum 3 and conveyor belt 4;

similarly the lower jet manifold 29 and lower jets 6 may receive their portion of liquor from the jetting pump and jet in an upward direction so as to impinge onto the compressed wool layer which is held between the conveyor This conveyor belt 4- is made belt 4 and drum 3. The wool remains in a compressed state all the time that it is submerged (when jetting takes place) and compression is released near roller 11 where a heater 1?. may be located to assist in the removal of any wool which may adhere to the drum mesh.

Adsorbed fluid is removed from the loose wool in a preliminary operation by squeeze rollers 13 and then proceeds to the main squeeze rollers 15, located near roller 14. Passing through the main squeeze rollers 15, the loose wool proceeds to the next operation on the conveyor 16. The liquor which is squeezed out from squeeze roiiers 13 drops into tank 1, whilst liquor which is squeezed out of the main squeeze rollers 15 drop into drip-tray 17 from which it is pumped back into tank 1 by auxiliary pump 18. There is circulation of jetting liquor by means of jetting pump 7 where it takes jetting liquor on the suction side from tank 1 or a storage tank (not shown) and discharges the jetting liquor into the upper jet manifold 19 and lower jet manifold 20, from where the liquor is jetted onto the compressed wool layer, and thu returns to tank 1. T he auxiliary squeeze rollers 13 are used for the purpose of removing a great portion of the liquor which is associated with a wet mass of wool. It may be advantageous to support the conveyor belt 4 at positions opposite the upper jets 5, since part of the jet kinetic energy will be converted to pressure energy and may tend to stretch the conveyor belts at these points. This requirement will be mainly dependent on the elastic properties of the material of the conveyor belt.

Use of the method and apparatus above described has resulted in a scoured wool product in no way inferior to conventionally scoured wool as regards residual wool grease content and residual foreign-particle content.

In addition, the jet-scoured wool product obtained was less entangled than conventionally scoured wool to the extent that less energy was required to disentangle the representative samples. This would indicate that compression jet-scoured wool would yield more wool top than conventionally scoured wool (as measured by the top to noil ratio) and that the jet-scoured wool tops fibres would have a longer mean fibre length permitting finer count wool spinning. These postulations have been proved correct by experimental results.

In the operation of the apparatus described above, it is necessary to adjust the tension in the conveyor belt 4 so that, while the wool fibres are compressed to a sufficient degree to permit as little relative fibre movement as pos sible, they are not compressed to such an extent that the jets of liquor do not penetrate throughout the layer. For wool of any particular quality or condition the degree of compression and other factors for optimum results must be found by experiment. In a particular case very satisfactory results as shown by top to noil ratio were obtained when scouring s Merino warp length fleece wool under the following conditions:

Wool compression pressure Liquor jet velocity Conveyor transverse velocity Wool layer area density Liquor temperature (using soap-soda solution of standard concentration)- Liquor pH Top to noil ratio 45 lbs./ft. (22 gms/cm?) 27 ft./sec. (S23 cm./sec.)

l2 ft./min. (366 CIlL/llllfl.) 200 gum/ft. (0.22 gm./cm.

F. (57.2 C.) 10-l0:5 16:1

of treatment processes such as the scouring of wool fibres, will, in addition, carry away impurities or extraneous matter adhering to the fibres in the compressed layer.

We claim:

1. A method of treating a mass of loose fibres with a fluid employing means for compressing the fibres which means permit the passage of fluid therethrough, comprising, prior to the fluid treatment, forming the fibres into a layer and compressing the layer with the compressing means to an extent such that they are freely exposed to the treatment fluid and relative movement between individual fibres is substantially prevented during treatment, after the layer of fibres is so compressed, submerging the compressed layer of fibres beneath the surface of a bath of liquid, while the layer of fibres is so submerged, maintaining the fibres in compression while applying the treatment by directing the fluid in the form of a hi h velocity jet through such layer of compressed fibres, said jet acting freely on all of the fibres, after termination of the jet action, removing the compressed layer of fibres from the bath of liquid, and only after such removal releasing pressure from the fibres.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the fibres are moved past the jet of fluid.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the fibres are moved beneath the surface of the bath of liquid while the treatment fluid is being applied.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the liquid constitutes the treatment fluid.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the treatment fluid is applied by directing the jets against the fibres from opposite sides thereof.

6. A method of scouring loose wool fibres and similar material with a fluid employing means for compressing the fibres which means permit the passage of fluid through the fibres, comprising, prior to the fluid treatment, forming the fibres into a layer and compressing the layer with ing freely on all fibres, after termination of the jet action,

removing the compressed layer of fibres from the bath of liquid, and only after such removal releasing pressure from the fibres.

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein the fibres are moved past successive jets with successive adjacent jets directing the treatment fluid against respective opposite sides of the layer of fibres.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 899,440 9/08 Shuman 68-44 X 1,123,768 1/15 Lewis 68-158 1,432,319 10/22 Brandwood 68-158 X 2,441,308 5/48 Bond 63-43 X 2,665,189 1/54 Cox 8-156 2,724,955 11/55 Spooner 68-158 2,736,632 2/56 Blau 68-44 X 2,810,625 10/57 Brooks 8-156 3,025,691 3/62 Fleissner W 68-158 3,05?,460 16/ 62 Kusters 68-44 X FOREIGN PATENTS 573,042 11/45 Great Britain.

851,644 10/ Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

WALTER SCHEEL, Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF TREATING A MASS OF LOOSE FIBRES WITH A FLUID EMPLOYING MEANS FOR COMPRESSING THE FIBRES WHICH MEANS PERMIT THE PASSAGE OF FLUID THERETHROUGH, A COMPRISING, PRIOR TO THE FLUID TREATMENT, FORMING THE FIBRES INTO A LAYER AND COMPRESSING THE LAYER WITH THE COMPRESSING MEANS TO AN EXTENT SUCH THAT THEY ARE FREELY EXPOSED TO THE TREATMENT FLUID AND RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL FIBRES IS SUBSTANTIALLY PREVENTED DURING TREATMENT, AFTER THE LAYER OF FIBRES IS SO COMPRESSED, SUBMERGING THE COMPRESSED LAYER OF FIBRES BENEATH THE SURFACE OF A BATH OF LIQUID, WHILE THE LAYER OF FIBRES IS SO SUBMERGED, MAINTAINING THE FIBRES IN COMPRESSION WHILE APPLYING THE TREATMENT BY DIRECTING THE FLUID IN THE FORM OF A HIGH VELOCITY JET THROUGH SUCH LAYER OF COMPRESSED FIBRES, SAID JET ACTING FREELY ON ALL OF THE FIBRES, AFTER TERMINATION OF THE JET ACTION, REMOVING THE COMPRESSED LAYER OF FIBRES FROM THE BATH OF LIQUID, AND ONLY AFTER SUCH REMOVAL RELEASING PRESSURE FROM THE FIBRES. 